- Colombia's armed conflict is being reshaped by the integration of AI and digital technologies.
- Evolution ranges from the tactical use of low-cost drones by non-state actors to the state's deployment of complex anti-drone defense systems.
- AI-driven disinformation and digital community control methods are amplifying existing regional inequalities and patterns of violence.
Battlefield Transformations and State Response
- Low-cost drone use: Since 2024, non-state armed groups have used modified commercial drones for explosive attacks on police and military targets, demonstrating how accessible technology can alter tactical power balances.
- National Anti-Drone Shield: Since 2025, the government has been building a comprehensive architecture utilizing specialized sensors, micro-Doppler identification, and radio frequency blocking to neutralize incoming threats.
Algorithmic Risk Management
- Operational tools: Both police and military forces have adopted AI-driven systems to analyze data for risk modeling and crime hotspot identification.
- Risks of bias: Due to regional inequalities and poor data quality, there is a risk that these systems will reinforce stigmatization and intensify surveillance in specific areas while making others invisible.
Manipulation and Social Control
- Disinformation: AI-generated audio of political candidates and deepfake avatars mimicking doctors or military personnel have been used to influence elections and incite protests since 2023.
- Digital blacklists: Non-state actors exploit closed WhatsApp groups and anonymous Facebook profiles to share profiles of community leaders, facilitating threats and targeted violence. AI threatens to automate and accelerate these control systems.
Implications
- The immediate danger is not necessarily the rise of fully autonomous weapons, but the risk that these technologies reinforce and amplify the deep-seated social disparities that have fueled decades of conflict in Colombia.